Under the caverns of Mercury, the Sundiver Mission prepares for a momentous voyage: a journey into the blazing inferno of the sun, to seek our destiny in the cosmic order of life.

For in a universe where no species can reach sentience without being 'uplifted' by a patron race, only humanity - it seems - may have climbed to the stars unaided. This is a feat that puzzles and even angers some of the ancient, mighty Galactic Clans.

Now, in a saga that warps from Earth to the far-reaches of five galaxies, the greatest mystery of all may be explained . . .